President authority

[Jay M]

We have a sentence in our constitution saying " The President may appoint individuals to render part or full‐time paid services to the corporation as may be required from time to time within powers vested on the President by the Board of Trustees. "

I wonder  how do you interpret it President can appoint only with approval of the board?

Thanks in advance

[Josh Martin]

On 3/16/2023 at 12:59 PM, Jay M said:

We have a sentence in our constitution saying " The President may appoint individuals to render part or full‐time paid services to the corporation as may be required from time to time within powers vested on the President by the Board of Trustees. "

I wonder  how do you interpret it President can appoint only with approval of the board?

I'm not certain. The rule seems ambiguous. That would seem like one possible interpretation. Another possible interpretation might be that the Board of Trustees might authorize the President, in advance, to appoint certain positions, but approval of the actual person appointed to the position would not be required. There may be other interpretations.

Ultimately, it will be up to the organization to interpret its own rules. In the long run, it would be best to amend the rule for clarity.

Edited March 16, 2023 at 06:48 PM by Josh Martin

[Phil D]

I generally concur with Mr. Martin, though I suppose I think it less ambiguous and more... flexible. It would seem that the president has whatever appointment authority the Board cares to give him. So if they tell the president to "hire a janitor," it would seem the president gets to pick who that is and whether they are part time or full time. If they tell the president to "hire a part-time janitor, subject to board approval," then it would seem the president gets to recommend a candidate to the board for part-time janitorial service. Thus, the Board would be wise to word any motions or resolutions granting appointment authority to the president wisely, and not presume that the president is required to seek their post hoc approval.